MINISTERS must commit to “buying British,” the TUC said yesterday as the government set out its preferred route for the second high-speed railway.

The controversial HS2 project will head from London to the West Midlands before forking into sections through Manchester and Leeds.

The first phase of the £55.7 billion railway, between London and Birmingham, is due to open in December 2026.

It will be extended to Crewe from 2027 and to Manchester and Leeds in 2033.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The full HS2 route will be a game-changer for the country that will slash journey times and perhaps, most importantly, give rail passengers on the existing network thousands of extra seats every day.”

Mr Grayling said communities facing enforced demolitions and disruption along the route would be “treated with fairness, compassion and respect” and that the government would give more compensation than the legal minimum.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said HS2 would be a “shot in the arm” for Britain’s economic recovery.

“Today’s announcement is not only good news for rail workers, but for companies throughout the UK supply chain too,” she said.

“Britain’s steel workers stand ready to provide the steel needed for HS2 — all they need is for the government to commit to buying British.”

But the South Yorkshire spur is likely to involve the demolition of a new housing estate near Sheffield.

Russell Holmes, who lives on the Shimmer estate in Mexborough, said: “It may be a new estate, but it’s a proper community. For that to be destroyed is devastating.

“But the uncertainty, waiting until it happens, when you can actually put something in place to move, is horrible as well.”

In June the National Audit Office warned that the project is under financial strain. Cost forecasts for phase one exceed available funding by £204 million, while phase two contains elements that are “currently unfunded,” the report said.

Stop HS2 campaign chief Joe Rukin said ministers were “simply trying to con the public that HS2 is needed for capacity reasons.

“The government has finally come clean in admitting ‘freeing up capacity’ means for many cities ‘losing the trains you already have,’ as the HS2 business case demands £8.3bn worth of cuts to existing services.”